Catalyst of Distant Worlds
by TwistedFilms
Summary: The universe is inhabited by a broad variety of menacing beasts that feed on humankind. These monsters are known as Pokémon. One day, an anomaly in the space-time continuum causes the regions of Kanto and Sinnoh to fuse into one massive continent. Now it's up to Ash, a self-proclaimed "trainer" from Pallet Town, and his new blue-haired female companion to set things straight.
1. Darker Days Ahead

**Chapter 1: Darker Days Ahead**

The wild Pidgey screeched threateningly as Ash Ketchum, the grandson of the legendary Pokémon professor Samuel Oak, ever so slowly reached for his backpack. The temperamental bird had caught him off guard as he was taking a nap underneath one of the huge pine trees that was littered throughout Route 1. Despite Pidgey's relatively small size, it was not to be underestimated, as its sharp beak would easily pierce skin and rip at your entrails. And this one had caught Ash completely by surprise, giving it the advantage.

His backpack was only a few feet away, but it might as well have been several meters as the Pidgey was already moving in on him. Deciding to abandon all sense of caution, Ash flung himself forward to grab his Pokèballs, but to his horror, they were just out of reach. As he twisted himself around, the Pidgey came sprawling down on top of him, scratching him with its long talons. Ash desperately tried to protect himself by putting his arms in front of his face, but the ferocious bird continued its relentless barrage of scratching, pecking and swiping, causing blood to begin to seep out from several cuts and bruises.

Just as Ash felt a scream rip its way out of his throat and his arms going limp from pain, a bright flash followed by an incredibly loud buzzing sound made his heart jump in surprise. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that the Pòkemon that had been attacking him just moments earlier had seemingly vanished. Slowly bringing himself up to a sitting position, Ash scanned his surroundings with wide eyes, before spotting the Pidgey lying in a heap near the base of the pine tree. Its skin was completely charred, a thin line of smoke trailing off its body before vanishing. It was absolutely, positively dead.

As Ash stared dumbfounded at the corpse, he spotted a yellow rodent dashing towards him at a surprising speed. Before he even managed to react, the creature had jumped on top of him, knocking him over onto his back, before starting to cover his face with small licks. Ash couldn't help but laugh as his companion and best friend Pikachu showered him with tiny wet marks.

"Hey, Pikachu, lay off!" he laughed as Pikachu upped the intensity of its licks. "I know you're happy that I'm okay, but seriously, that tickles!"

As Pikachu jumped off him, Ash sat up and gave his friend a wide smile.

"Thanks a lot by the way. If it wasn't for you, that Pidgey would've seriously hurt me," he said as he looked over his wounds. There were no deep cuts, which he was eternally grateful for, but he bled like a stuck pig. After quickly rummaging through his backpack, Ash found the bandages he kept for emergencies and began wrapping them around his wounds, slowing down the bleeding. Meanwhile Pikachu had taken to patrolling the vicinity, setting up a perimeter of sorts. If anything tried to rush at Ash, Pikachu would be there to intercept it and take it down.

After bandaging his wounds, Ash took a quick look at his watch. Was it really 6 PM already? It felt like an hour ago that he set out into the wilderness of Route 1, ready for yet another day of exploring. Letting out a sigh of frustration, Ash stood up and put on his backpack. His mother would start getting worried if he didn't come home soon, so gesturing for Pikachu to follow, Ash set out on the journey home.

* * *

Pallet Town was by no means a big place. In its entirety, it was a small collection of houses surrounding Professor Oak's Laboratory, with a tiny pier stretching a little ways out into the ocean on the southern side. A wooden fence, designed to keep out wild Pokémon, surrounded the entire town with a couple of guards stationed at the only entrance. It was a small community of hardworking citizens, willing to brave the wilderness in order to build a new life for themselves.

Growing up, Ash only had a few other kids to play with, and they were all freaked out by his obsession with Pokémon. To them, Pokémon were nothing but wild beasts, eagerly waiting to kill them and eat their corpse. But to Ash, they were so much more. They were majestic creatures with individual abilities and powers so powerful they could easily wipe out a human settlement if they tried. Ever since he was but a tiny boy, Ash had been infatuated with the idea of being a Pokémon trainer, a special profession that only a select few could really claim to have mastered. It involved taking care of Pokémon, living amongst them and treating them with respect.

In its simplest form, everyone could become a Pokémon trainer. All one really needed was a special device called a "Pokeball", which could capture and store a Pokémon inside of it. With just a simple throw, one could summon the captured Pokémon and eventually build up a strong enough relationship with it to "command" it to do your bidding. For most people, this required years of practice to master. For Ash, it came as naturally as breathing. He was destined to be a Pokémon trainer, and everybody around him knew it, so when he turned 16, Professor Oak had taken him into his lab and given him his first real Pokémon: Pikachu.

Ever since then, Ash's life had been a complete rollercoaster of adventures and exploration. So far, however, he had never gone beyond the borders of Route 1. But times were about to change. And nobody could've foreseen or guessed what was about to happen.

* * *

The sun had fallen low on the horizon, bathing the world in glimmers of orange light by the time Ash approached the house he shared with his mother. The trip home had been uneventful and relaxing, but the clock was approaching 7 PM, and he was running late. His mother would undoubtedly scold him for worrying her and being late for dinner.

Pikachu, resting comfortably on the top of his head, let out a satisfied purr as Ash moved his arm up to scratch him behind the ears. The rodent-like Pokémon had been Ash's travel companion for almost a year now, and the two had developed a strong bond of friendship rarely seen between a human and Pokémon. Ash knew he could count on Pikachu to have his back whenever he ventured out and braved the wilds, and just like today, that had saved his life multiple times.

 _Dammit, now Mom is going to be all upset when she sees that Im wounded,_ Ash thought to himself as he stopped in front of the door leading in to his home. After taking a deep breath, he knocked twice, before slowly opening the door and announcing his return.

"Mom, I'm back!"

Ash heard a scuffling sound coming from the kitchen, before Ash's mom, Delia Ketchum, stepped out into the hallway to greet him.

"Welcome home, my dear boy. Mind telling me why you're so late?" The bright smile on her face was easily betrayed by the ice in her voice, and it was obvious that she was not happy with his late return.

"I'm sorry Mom, I really am… I kinda fell asleep underneath a pine tree, and…"

Before he even managed to finish his sentence, his mom had rushed over to him and enveloped him in a soft hug.

"You know how worried I get whenever you stay out late…," she whispered, burying her face in his chest. He was almost a head taller than she was, so Ash wrapped his arms around her in a comforting gesture, and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean to scare you…"

"I know, I know," she answered, looking up at him with a smile, an earnest one this time. "It's just that… after losing your father, I… I don't know what I would've done if something happened to you…" Letting out a gasp, she let her sentence trail off as she noticed the bandaged wounds covering Ash's body.

"What happened to you? Who did this?"

Ash sighed, before unwrapping himself from his mother's tight hug.

"I was attacked by a wild Pidgey during my nap. Pikachu was there to take care of it though, so no real harm was done… Just some shallow cuts," he finished, gesturing to the bandages covering his arms. Delia Ketchum shook her head, before nodding ever so slightly.

"You're just like your father, you know that? As hopeless as they come. Oh well, I guess there's nothing to be done about it, you have his blood flowing through your veins after all. Always the energetic explorer…" his mother said, laughing ever so slightly. Ash sent her a warm smile in response, before moving further into the house.

"So, you wouldn't happen to have any food ready for me? I'm starving!" he asked, scanning for anything edible in the room. Delia Ketchum gave her son a good look-over, before sighing and leading him in to the kitchen where she had a rabbit steak already prepared.

* * *

Ash couldn't sleep. He had been trying desperately for the past 30 minutes, but the sweet relief of darkness that would allow his mind to travel to distant worlds wouldn't come. Sitting upright in his bed, Ash shot a glance over at the digital clock resting on his nightstand. It told him that it was 2 AM in the middle of the night. Shaking his head, Ash pulled down the duvet covering his lean body, before standing up. The commotion woke up Pikachu, who was sleeping in his usual spot in the foot end of Ash's bed. Sending him a confused look, Pikachu let out a deep yawn before jumping on top of Ash's head.

"Hey there little guy…" Ash whispered, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. "Didn't mean to wake you up. I couldn't sleep… Care to join me outside for a little stargazing?"

"Pikaachu," Pikachu answered.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Ash said before moving to put on the clothes he usually wore.

It was pitch black outside, but he didn't care. This wasn't the first time insomnia had denied him his sleep. Slowly opening the door leading out into the hallway, Ash made sure to make as little sound as possible as he made his way out of his room. Stopping for a second, he decided to go back to grab his magnetic belt where his Pòkeballs were securely fastened and ready to be thrown with a flick of his hand.

That done, Ash proceeded to make his way down the hallway, all the way to the end where a ladder was put up against the wall, leading up to a hatch in the roof. Moving as silently as possible, he slowly opened the hatch and popped out onto the roof.

This was Ash's favorite spot. From here, he had a clear view of the stars and the entirety of Pallet Town. Whenever he couldn't sleep, he came up here to look at the stars and watch as the small town slowly woke to life.

Plopping down onto his back, Ash put his arms behind his head to form a pillow as he stared up at the vast sky, Pikachu resting comfortably on his chest. The small Pokémon was, despite its size, a great companion and a fierce warrior. Its ability to generate electricity and shoot it out at its opponents had saved Ash multiple times, and its incredible speed allowed it to dodge almost every attack Ash knew of.

Letting out a content sigh, Ash absentmindedly scratched Pikachu behind the ears as his thoughts wandered. Becoming a certified Pokémon trainer was no easy task, and it would require him to go through multiple hard tests in order to prove his mettle. Many of the said tests would take place in cities far beyond Pallet Town, so eventually, Ash would have to brave the wilderness and set out into unknown territory. Travelling alone was dangerous, as one never knew when a wild Pokémon might attack. Being careless could have deadly consequences, and if it was one thing Ash was certain of, it was that he had no wish to end up as a meal for a hungry Rattata or a flock of Spearow.

Eyes wandering over the night sky, Ash traced his finger across the star constellations he knew, calling them out to Pikachu. The Pokémon seemed completely uninterested, but Ash didn't care. He just appreciated having someone to talk with.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, Ash spotted something unusual. A purple dot that wasn't normally there now occupied a part of the celestial sphere. Fixing his eyes on it, Ash watched as the dot gradually grew in intensity. Staring at it with newfound interest, the phenomenon in front of him continued expanding. Before long, the dot had developed into a full-blown shade of purple, covering the entire sky above him.

"Ehrm… Pikachu? What do you think th…?" A deafening boom, catching Ash completely by surprise, interrupted his sentence. The loud crack made his ears ring, and he instinctively brought his hands up to cover them. Falling onto his back, Ash gasped as yet another boom sounded throughout the little valley surrounding Pallet Town. Ash's ears felt like they were bleeding, so intense was the pain. Shooting a quick glance at Pikachu, he saw the Pokémon thrashing about in what could only be complete suffering. At the same time, he noticed that something odd was happening to the sky. It was as if the very fabric of reality itself was being torn apart, an invisible being cutting through space and time in order to create a huge rift in the night sky above him.

Suddenly, a thunderous earthquake made the entire building shake, and as Ash stared out over Pallet Town, he saw several houses collapsing in on themselves. The citizens were rushing out into the streets, shouting expositions and running for their lives.

 _"Is… Is this the end of the world?"_ Ash wondered as he felt the very foundations of his home being shaken apart by the quake. _"Pikachu… I've got to save Pikachu"_.

Practically throwing himself forward, Ash scooped up Pikachu into his arms as the pair flung themselves over the edge of the roof just as the building collapsed. Ash screamed as the ground came closer and closer at a terrifying speed. Just before he hit the ground, Ash looked up to the sky above him and noticed that the rift had gotten even bigger, almost swallowing up the entire atmosphere into its gaping, purple maws. And then everything went dark as his body collided with the sidewalk that ran parallel to their house.

* * *

Peaceful darkness. No pain. No worries. No troubles. Just darkness. For once, Ash felt completely at peace. The world around him didn't exist anymore, there was only darkness. A black void that consisted entirely of nothing. A private paradise only meant for him.

For a moment, there was nothing wrong. He was content with swimming around in the emptiness, reveling in the feeling of having absolutely zero problems. But then he remembered. He remembered his mother's smile, her compassion and her love. He remembered the feeling of running through the wilds, exploring unknown lands. He remembered the sensation of the wind blowing in his hair. And most importantly, he remembered his companion Pikachu, and all of the adventures they had been on together. Suddenly, the darkness that surrounded him seemed a lot lonelier. He wanted to return to the world he had left behind. He wanted to give his mother another hug, he wanted to brave the wilderness one more time; he wanted to scratch Pikachu behind the ears and hear him purr.

Fighting against the darkness, Ash tried to push it away, to reject its embrace. At first, he felt the darkness fighting back, desperately trying to keep him there, in that eternal void. But then, ever so slowly, it loosened its grip on him. He felt himself slipping back to reality, a rainbow of colors flashing before his eyes. Suddenly, another sensation hit him. Pain. Incredible pain.

Gasping for air, Ash opened his eyes and vomited. Covering the grass beside him in halfway digested food, his stomach heaved as it shot up burst after burst of vomit. After a minute or two, the barrage stopped, leaving Ash twitching on the ground.

Every inch of his body hurt. He felt like he had been trampled on by an angry Rhydon, and then thrown down a cliff. Muttering curses underneath his breath, Ash slowly got up on his knees, scanning his surroundings. He was in the middle of a clearing in a thick forest, its green leaves blocking out the sunlight. From how bright it was, Ash guessed it to be somewhere around mid-day.

 _But that doesn't make any sense, how can it be mid-day already? Last I remember, it was the middle of the night,_ Ash thought to himself, eyes darting around the unfamiliar scenery. _And I dont think I recognize this place… There shouldnt be any thick forests near Pallet Town either._

Glancing about, he spotted Pikachu lying unconscious on the ground a little ways away. Scooting over, he wrapped his arms around the Pokémon, giving it a tight hug. The yellow rodent immediately woke back up to life, looking around at the unfamiliar terrain before sending Ash a confused look.

"Oh, thank God you're okay. I thought you were gone for a second there… Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm just as confused as you are," he said as he let go of Pikachu, the Pokémon shaking violently from side to side like a dog before starting to wander around.

"Where are we?" Ash muttered as he tried to recall the last moments before he fell unconscious. "There was a huge boom, and an earthquake, and then the sky opened up and… Ahh, what the hell?"

"Pikaaaachu," Pikachu answered.

"Yeah, you're right. We can worry about all that later. For now, let's see if we can find our way back to Pallet Town. I need to make sure Mom is okay".

As Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder, Ash started wandering towards the other side of the small clearing. Nothing made sense anymore. How had he ended up here? What had happened to Pallet Town? Was his mother okay? Had everyone made it out alive? All of these questions clogged up his mind, making it impossible to think.

After walking aimlessly for almost 20 minutes, Ash heard the unnerving sound of leaves rustling right next to him. Stopping dead in his tracks, he slowly turned to his right, Pikachu getting ready to unleash a deadly Thunderbolt attack should anything attempt to harm them. Ash stared hard into the bushes where the sound had come from, adrenalin pumping in his veins. He silently scolded himself for not paying more attention during his walk. There could be wild Pokémon everywhere, lying in wait for any unlucky traveler. They wouldn't hesitate to shred him to pieces, if given the chance.

The pair stood in complete silence, listening for any sounds of movement. Suddenly, a flash of purple streaked by in the corner of Ash'ls vision. It moved too fast for him to get a clear view of it, but from what he could tell, it was at least a meter tall. Eyes darting around, Ash spun on his own axis, desperately trying to catch a sight of the creature that was prowling near them.

Faster than Ash thought possible, the Pokémon came flying out of a nearby bush. For a split-second, Ash got the opportunity to take a closer look at it. It took the form of a huge, purple scorpion with two enormous stingers at the end of its tail. Before Ash had a chance to react, the creature had slammed into him, knocking him down on the ground. Flailing wildly with his arms, Ash desperately tried to push the Pokémon off him. To his great surprise, the weight on his chest disappeared almost instantly, leaving him alone and panting for air on the ground. The forest was dead silent, and there was no trace to be found of the massive scorpion.

Pikachu looked around, clearly bewildered. The attack had happened too fast for the young Pokémon to catch it. That was okay though, no harm had been done and everything was alr… Suddenly, Ash felt an incredibly strong numbing sensation flowing through his body, sending all of his muscles into a spasm. Lying on the ground, Ash writhed in pain as the poison from where the scorpion-like Pokémon's stinger had been plunged into his body started to spread through his bloodstream.

His vision darkened as a fresh wave of pain rolled over him, causing him to let out a groan of pure suffering. Pikachu ran in circles around him, desperately trying to help his friend and trainer in any way he could. Ash felt his air pipe beginning to clog, making it hard to breathe. As his consciousness slowly drifted away, Ash's last thoughts were those of home, and, strangely enough, how he would never get to taste his mother's cooking ever again.

* * *

By the time the blue-haired trainer found him, Ash had long passed out. He was on the brink of death as the female bent over and pulled up his shirt to expose where the stinger had been inserted into him, the wound seeping a steady stream of puss and blood.

She muttered under her breath as she forced the unconscious body to gulp down a murky substance, much to the disdain of the Pikachu that seemed to guard him. It was designed to combat the poison flowing through his veins. It wouldn't save him, but it would give her the much-needed time it would take for her to completely rid his body of the toxin.

As she halfway dragged the boy to her campsite, she scolded herself for always being such a softhearted girl every time she saw someone in need. Acting like a good person was one day going to get her killed. But despite this, she secretly enjoyed the feeling of having someone else there, especially after what had just happened. Never in her life had she witnessed anything remotely like it, the very sky being torn apart.

Time flew as she worked on an antidote for the poisoned trainer. Bandaging his wounds and applying the antidote would take time.

The night came and went, and when the first glimmers of sunlight peeked over the horizon, Ash woke up from his feverish sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: So this happened. If it wasn't obvious enough already, this story is inspired by The Sun Soul written by 50caliberchaos. It is truly a magnificent piece of work and if you haven't read it already then I would highly recommend you to do so right now. You won't regret it.**

 **Now, as for my plans with this story: I already have the ending completely planned out and ready to go. Despite the fact that this story is inspired by 50cals writings, I can promise you it won't be "more of the same". This will be a completely different beast entirely. So I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of what will hopefully develop into a very long story.**

 **Oh, and I'm offering a metaphorical cookie to anyone who manages to guess which Pòkemon attacked Ash and which girl I introduced. Should be pretty easy :)**

 **Other than that, I will see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **-Twisted**


	2. A New Acquaintance

Sunlight flooded in through the treetops, covering the ground in a warm light. A cool, yet comfortable breeze blew through Ash's hair as he ever so slowly opened his eyes. The strong morning light blinded him, forcing him to raise his arm to protect his fragile eyes. As soon as he did, a wave of fresh pain flooded his senses, making him drop his now raised arm to the ground again. A groan of agony escaped his lips as he blinked in an attempt to make the pain go away.

"Oh, you're awake". A feminine voice broke the silence, followed by the sound of boots hitting ground coming closer and closer to him. "You look like shit," the voice said, this time a lot closer.

"I feel like shit," Ash answered, his voice nothing but a hoarse whimper. His entire body ached, and moving only seemed to make it worse.

"Now, I don't mean to "kick you when you're down" or anything like that, but you're probably one of the most incompetent trainers I have ever met, and that is saying a lot, since I've only known you for about 24 hours," the voice stated matter-of-factly. Ash couldn't help but chuckle at that. He instantly regretted it though, as doing so caused his already dry throat to hurt even more.

"I'm sorry, you must be dying of thirst. Drapion's poison usually causes extreme dehydration, amongst a plethora of other equally deadly things, of course," the voice said. Ash heard the sound of someone rummaging through a backpack, before a canteen suddenly pressed itself against his lips.

"Here, drink this".

Ash's mouth moved on its own, gulping down as much water as it could. The cold liquid felt like heaven as it ran down his throat. Before long, the entire canteen was empty.

"Th… thank you," Ash gasped before letting his head fall back onto the ground. On his way down, he caught a glimpse of the owner of the feminine voice. She had dark blue hair running down her back, with a white cap covering the top of her head. Her eyes matched her hair in color, and if he had to guess, he would say she looked to be about 17 years old. Her stare was fixed on him, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

 _She's pretty._

The thought came to him out of nowhere, and he immediately coughed to break the awkward silence that had erupted between them.

"So, I guess I owe you, huh?" Ash asked, pushing himself off the ground.

"Well, I suppose you could say that… You're lucky I came along when I did, you were on your last legs when I found you," she answered, twirling a strand of her hair in between her fingers. "Actually, how did you manage to get stung in the first place? Drapion can usually only be found in deserts".

"Ahh, so that's what its called. Drapion… Well, I've never even seen a Pokémon like that before. As for how I got stung, it kinda just jumped at me from a bush. The thing was so damn fast I didn't even have a chance to react," Ash answered whilst scanning his surroundings. "Where are we, by the way?" The girl sent him a confused look.

"We are in Route 201, the first Route in Sinnoh, of course!"

Ash's mind went completely blank. Sinnoh? As in the region of Sinnoh? But that made absolutely no sense! Last night, he had been in Pallet Town! Despite not being the most well versed in geography, Ash knew enough to understand that there was quite a distance between Kanto and Sinnoh. And as far as he could remember, there was no Route 201 in Kanto.

 _Ahh, now I get it! She's joking! I mean, she must be, right? Right?_

"Ahahah, that's real funny. No but seriously, where are we?" Ash said, shaking his head. The girl gave no response, and simply stared at him with a blank expression. A long moment of silence that seemed to last forever filled the void left by Ash's question.

"You're… not joking, are you?"

More silence.

"But that's absolutely, completely, totally not possible! Like, it is impossible on so many levels that I can't even begin to describe it! How can… what the…," Ash exploded, waving his arms around. The girl looked at him, before doing something completely unexpected: she laughed. Bending over, her entire body convulsed as she laughed and laughed. Ash, on the other hand, was too stunned to react. Before long, the laugh faded, and the girl wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Hahaha… haha… haa… Oh, that poison must've really messed with your brain or something," she giggled before taking a deep breath to regain her composure. "Alright, funny guy, where do you think we are?"

"Last night, I was in Kanto," Ash pouted, clearly unhappy with not being taken seriously. "Something happened, and I fell unconscious. When I woke up again, I was here in this forest, which I've never seen before". The female trainer went completely silent at that.

"You said… something happened? What exactly was it? Did… Did the sky turn purple? Did the ground shake with such ferocity you thought the very earth was going to rupture?" she asked, the laughter from before all but gone now. Ash's blood froze to ice in his veins as he listened to her describe the exact phenomenon he had witnessed earlier.

"Yes… That was exactly what happened. Did you… see it too?" he asked carefully. The girl stared at him, before nodding curtly.

It was at this moment that Pikachu decided to make his entrance. Looking like a yellow lightning, the rodent-like Pokémon darted towards Ash at an astonishing speed. Before Ash even had a chance to react, he found himself lying on the ground again, Pikachu covering his face with friendly licks.

"Hahaha, hey Pikachu! Oh, you must've been worried about me… I'm sorry old friend, I didn't mean to scare you," Ash smiled, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. All the while, the girl watched them both with growing interest.

"You have an abnormally good connection with your Pikachu," she noted, sending Ash a weak smile. He didn't have an answer to that, so he simply shrugged and pushed himself off the ground.

"Yeah, we've been through a lot together. I wouldn't want it any other way though". His travel companion and best friend let out a satisfied purr as he started wandering around the clearing, keeping an eye out for any threats.

"My name is Dawn, by the way," the girl said, hands casually placed on her hips.

"Nice to meet you, Dawn. I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town," he answered, nodding his head. "And thank you for saving my life. I definitely owe you".

"Dont sweat it," Dawn smiled.

Stretching his arms and looking up, Ash noticed a group of black-and-white birds flying across the sky. The girl followed his gaze to see what it was that had captured his attention.

"Oh, that's nothing to worry about. It's only a group of Starly. They're not hostile, unless aggravated, of course," she said. Ash nodded, but couldn't bring himself to look away. There was something… odd… about how they were flying. It was almost as if they were shifting into formation...

As they were watching, the group slowly circled back around before… flying straight towards them?

"Uhm, Dawn? Are they supposed to be doing that?" Ash asked as he kept his eyes fixed on the birds. He heard Dawn muttering curses under her breath as she suddenly dived for her backpack.

"No, they are definitely NOT! Time to go, and fast!" she shouted. Ash reacted instantly, grabbing his own backpack and putting on his magnetic belt. Pikachu, on the other hand, ran around in circles, bewildered and afraid. Before long, all of their possessions had been packed down, and Dawn was pulling Ash by the arm out towards the end of the clearing. The group of Starly had come considerably closer, and Ash couldn't help but feel panic starting to creep into his bloodstream. He could imagine their sharp beaks piercing into his flesh, tearing it apart like paper. Dawn on the other hand remained calm, guiding him with clear determination.

But despite her best efforts, Ash knew they wouldn't make it. The nearest bunch of trees remained far away, and the birds came closer and closer every second. Turning around, he saw the first Starly approaching, only a couple of meters behind.

Everything around him seemed to slow down. His breathing was controlled, his movements precise. He knew what he had to do, despite how idiotic the idea seemed. It was their only shot.

Ash threw himself forwards, pushing Dawn to the ground. Landing on top of her, he created a protective barrier around her, using his back as a shield. She had saved his life just hours earlier. Time for him to repay the favor.

The first couple of Starly flew straight over them, missing them with a good bit. But ever so slowly, the group of birds inched closer, until Ash finally felt the first one collide with his back. Luckily enough for him, the bird was taken by surprise, and hit him at an awkward angle. The Pokémon bounced off his back like a ragdoll, the impact sure to give him a bruise, but leaving him relatively unharmed.

The second Starly that hit him was a little bit more lucky. Its beak slashed across the skin on his back, tearing open a cut that bled viciously. Ash gritted his teeth and continued to weather the storm. A couple of seconds later, the onslaught of birds stopped, and Ash fell down next to Dawn, exhausted and bleeding. Shooting a quick glance at her, he was relieved to see that she had escaped completely unharmed.

"Why… Why did you do that?" Dawn gasped, pushing herself up into an upright sitting position.

"You saved my life. I thought I would do the same for you," he answered, panting for air. "There was no way we were going to reach those trees in time". Dawn sent him a concerned look, before grabbing his arm and pulling him up.

"Well, we can't stay here. They might come back, and this time, we won't be so lucky. Follow me". She immediately headed for a cluster of nearby trees, Ash clumsily scrambling after her. He was happy to see that Pikachu had also somehow escaped the attack without suffering a single cut.

When they finally reached safety, Ash fell to the ground as Dawn took off her backpack and opened it up.

"At least let me bandage your wounds. I only have a few medical supplies left, so you'll have to make do with what I've got". The tone she said it in left no room for questions, so Ash obediently sat up and removed his shirt. He noticed Dawn stealing a quick look at his toned body before scooting over.

"You are so incredibly reckless! You could've… no, you SHOULD'VE died there. Pure luck saved you," she ranted as she applied the bandages to his bleeding back. "I can't believe you even thought something like that would work!"

"But it did," Ash offered, letting out a short laugh. Dawn didn't seem to think it was nearly as amusing. Finishing her work, she took a step back to inspect the bandages. Satisfied, she nodded her head and returned the last scraps of medical supplies she had left to her backpack.

As Ash was about to stand back up again, Dawn did something completely unexpected. She sat down right behind him, and wrapped her arms around the top of his torso. Ash immediately felt his heart beat a little faster, and sat perfectly still.

"Thanks. I really mean it," she whispered in his ear. They sat like that for a while, feeling each other's presence and warmth. Moments like these were rare in a world inhabited by monsters, where every journey was a fight for survival. The embrace ended. Ash took a deep breath to stop his face from turning red, before standing up.

 _Nothing more than a friendly hug,_ he told himself as he put on his clothes again.

"I suppose we should head back to Twinleaf Town then. Professor Rowan will know what to do," Dawn said whilst pulling out a compass. She was surprisingly well equipped, Ash noted to himself.

"Sure," he answered, nodding his head. "We don't really have any other options, so I guess that makes sense".

With Dawn in the lead, the duo ventured forth towards the town that Ash had never heard of.

* * *

Twinleaf Town was, in many ways, very similar to Pallet Town. Its discreet location made it a place of little activity, rarely visited by travelers. The fresh scent of new leaves filled the air, and despite being a town placed in the middle of the wilderness, there was no hostile Pokémon to be seen. The entire place had a certain peacefulness over it, as if no trouble had ever befallen any of its citizens.

The duo took a break on top of a small hill overlooking the town. The sun had begun to set; the orange light making the trees cast long shadows over the grassy plains.

"That is Twinleaf Town, probably the most peaceful place in all of Sinnoh, and my hometown," Dawn proclaimed whilst rubbing her sore feet through her boots. The trip from Route 201 had been strenuous, but calm. Few words had been spoken between them, but Ash enjoyed the company of a fellow trainer nonetheless.

"Over there you can see Professor Rowan's house. He usually stays in his laboratory in Sandgem Town, but he has a spare home here in Twinleaf. Right now, he's our best bet at finding out exactly what it was that we… saw…," she let her sentence trail off as her eyes darted across Twinleaf Town, scanning for any signs of life. "Huh, that's weird… I can't see anyone. The town should be bustling with activity right about now…"

Ash squinted his eyes in an attempt to see for himself, and he quickly noticed that Dawn was right. He couldn't see a single person in the small town.

"You're right, it looks completely abandoned. Let's go take a closer look," he said, already up on his feet and ready to go. Pikachu jumped from his spot on the ground up onto Ash's arm, and sat down on his shoulder. The party quickly made their way towards the silent town, keeping an eye out for any threats.

When they arrived in Twinleaf, the first thing they noticed was how dead quiet everything was. Not a single sign of life could be found, and even after looking through the windows of several homes, they still couldn't find anyone.

"This is… not right. Everyone was here when I left to explore Route 201 two days ago. Where could they be?" Dawn muttered as Ash peered through yet another window.

"Don't ask me, I don't know any more than you do. What I do know, however, is that I'm absolutely famished. Do you have any spare food in your backpack?" Ash asked, rubbing his stomach with one hand.

"No, but my house isn't far from here. There's probably some food left in the fridge," Dawn answered, nodding towards a moderately sized house in the outskirts of town. The couple slowly made their way towards Dawn's home, constantly scanning for anything or anyone.

Stopping at the front door, Ash noticed a couple of huge claw marks scratched onto the wooden surface. Turning around, he saw Dawn's face turning pale, her hands clenched into fists. Pikachu saw it too, and carefully jumped down from Ash's shoulder to rub himself against her legs in an attempt to comfort her.

Ash grabbed a hold of the doorknob, and looked at Dawn. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded her head, and Ash opened the door ever so slowly. The wooden door creaked as it swung on its hinges.

Red. Red everywhere. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, all covered in specks and pools of red. At first, Ash couldn't quite comprehend what it was that he was seeing. The crimson liquid was everywhere, surrounding him on all angles.

Then it hit him. It was blood. Human blood. Blood smeared across every surface, splattered like from a mad painter's brush.

He heard Dawn gasp as she entered the room. Scanning the room, he spotted something in the corner of the living room. A shadow.

As he watched, the shadow turned around, and he saw red eyes staring back at him. Ash felt his heart skip a beat as he stared into those red whirlpools of pure malice. The Pokémon looked like something resembling a black and grey wolf. Its fangs and mouth was covered in blood, the liquid dripping down like water from an icicle. Behind him, Dawn fell to her knees, eyes wide with shock, her mouth agape.

Before he even had a chance to react, Pikachu was there, sparkling with electricity. A bright flash followed by a loud bang filled the room, blinding both of the trainers. The wolf-like Pokémon howled in pain, and Ash could hear it thrashing about wildly. Pikachu released another Thunderbolt, shocking the wolf yet again. This time, it didnt make a sound. The thumping sound of a corpse hitting the floor told him the Pokémon had lost its life. Pikachu had killed it.

Slowly regaining his senses, Ash spotted the wolf lying in a smoking pile in the corner of the room. Pikachu, looking satisfied, let out a short chitter before proceeding to hide behind Ash's legs. He couldn't blame him for that. Ash himself wanted nothing more than to go hide in a corner.

Throughout the entire attack, Dawn had remained on her knees, her face an emotionless mask. And as Ash scanned the room for any other signs of life, he spotted yet another shadow, this one a lot bigger. Slowly making his way over to it, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what the shadow actually was.

 _Oh my god… She's dead._

Before him, the mutilated corpse of a woman rested against the wall. Her stomach had been ripped open, her entrails covering her knees. A pool of blood had colored her clothes red.

Every logical thought in Ash's mind disappeared. He wanted to scream, scream as loud as he could, but his body refused to move. Then the nausea hit him.

Vomit flooded his throat, making him fall to his knees, gasping as wave after wave of stomach-fluid splattered onto the wooden floor. Dawn, on the other hand, sat perfectly still, her eyes flat and lifeless.

When he finally stopped vomiting, Ash dared look once more at the corpse. That's when he saw it. Her hair. It was dark blue.

Dawn screamed. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she leaned backwards, her entire body convulsing. When one scream ended, she took a deep breath and screamed again. Never stopping. Ash felt tears welling up in his eyes. She didn't stop. Ash heard it again and again. The scream of a girl who had just lost her mother. The scream of someone who had lost it all. A scream he had heard before, many years prior. Only this time, he wasn't the one screaming.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, that got way darker than I originally intended. The world of Pókemon can be horrifying, that's for sure!**

 **And with that, we have reached the end of yet another chapter! This one was a tiny bit shorter than the last one, but I felt like that was a good place to end it. I would like to thank everyone for the quite frankly amazing support on the first chapter, it completely blew me away! I understand that there was a couple of formatting issues with the story, but those should be fixed now!**

 **As always, if you enjoyed the read, please be sure to leave a review, as it makes me eternally happy! And I will see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **-Twisted**


	3. Torn and Frayed

**A/N: Hey guys, it´s me again. I finally finished Chapter 3 (thank God). This was an incredibly hard chapter to write, as I literally had no idea how to progress the story past finding Dawn's mother dead. It was a lot tougher than I had imagined to accurately represent and write about the feelings the characters were experiencing following a discovery like that. Now, I'll have some more info for you at the end of the chapter. Please, enjoy the read!**

It had been hours since the two of them left Dawn's house, but she still refused to talk, notice or even acknowledge him. Despite his attempts to start a conversation, she had yet to speak a single word. He didn't blame her for that. After what had happened in Twinleaf, he wouldn't have blamed her even if she decided to stay silent for the rest of her life.

The sun was all but gone from the sky, plunging the world in deep darkness, leaving the couple to navigate by the stars. Normally, they would've spent the night in Dawn's house before moving on, but that was completely out of the question. Just thinking about that… place… sent shivers down his spine.

Despite worrying about Dawn, Ash was still perfectly aware of how dangerous it was to travel during nighttime. You never knew what could be lurking in the shadows or hanging from the treetops. He would make camp the second he found a suitable spot, but for now, they had no choice but to keep going…

* * *

After her voice finally broke due to her screaming, Dawn had remained laying in a crumbled heap on the floor, a broken, emotionless thing. Ash hadn't been doing much better himself. Heart pumping in his chest, he slowly made his way over to Dawn's side. Midway through stretching out his hand to grab her shoulder, he stopped, apparently thinking the better of it. She needed space.

Standing up on shaky legs, he cautiously moved over to the corpse of the dead woman. Her blood was everywhere, and Ash could feel it soak into the soles of his shoes. He hadn't gotten the opportunity to take a closer look at the corpse earlier due to the wolf-like Pokémon, but now, he had a clear view of her body. Dawn's mother had been mutilated beyond recognition, her hair the only thing remaining relatively intact. Her belly had been ripped wide open by a pair of sharp claws, causing her innards to spill out over her legs. The decomposition phase had barely started, suggesting that the body was relatively fresh. She had most likely died just hours before Ash and Dawn arrived.

He was ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of Dawn mumbling incoherently to herself. Shooting a look back at her, he was surprised to see that she had stood up and was now taking off her backpack.

"Hey… Dawn… I don't mean to pry, but… what are you doing?" he asked, his voice coming out like a hoarse whisper. She didn't answer. She didn't even acknowledge his existence, she just kept undressing, having moved on to untying her shoelaces now. A sinking feeling settled deep inside of Ash's stomach. Whatever it was she was doing, it couldn't possibly be good.

Her mumbling had increased in volume now, and Ash was able to make out a few sentences here and there.

"… and it's almost time for dinner as well… mother will be very angry with me for coming home so late… wouldn't want to upset her…".

Ash's heart broke in his chest as he listened to her hushed rambling, tears threatening to spill out as he realized what had happened. Her sanity had snapped.

"Dawn…" he groaned, desperately trying to regain control of the emotions surging through him. "Dawn… She's gone…"

Her entire body seemed to stiffen up at the sound of his words. Her mumbling stopped as abruptly as it had started. Eyes wide open; she slowly turned around to face him.

"You're… you're lying," she whispered, a lone tear sliding down the side of her cheek. And just like that, Ash started crying too.

"No… no… I wish I was, but I´m… oh God, I´m not…" he sobbed, pushing his bright red cap further down onto his head in an attempt to hide his tears.

"You… YOU'RE LYING!" she screamed, her voice breaking halfway through the sentence. She was crying openly now, sobs forcing their way up her throat. Seeing her like this only made Ash's heart ache even worse, and acting on pure instinct, he threw his arms around her, enveloping her in a soft hug.

Dawn instantly relaxed her stiff body, letting the grief overwhelm her. Pushing herself up against him, she sobbed and sobbed. Ash sobbed with her, old wounds being ripped open at the sight of someone else losing a loved one. They stayed like that for a while, crying into each other's shoulder, comforting each other in the darkness of Dawn's childhood home. Pikachu had also joined them, rubbing his body against their legs in an attempt to comfort them. The Pokémon must've felt their sorrow.

Standing like that, they both knew, deep inside, that things would never be the same again.

* * *

After wandering aimlessly around for what must´ve been over an hour, Ash finally found a safe-looking enough spot to camp in. Gathering some broken branches and leaves, he attempted to make a small campfire to help keep them warm. Dawn kept silent the entire time, watching him work with meager interest. It was obvious her thoughts were occupied elsewhere.

Striking the flint for what felt like the 100th time, Ash finally managed to get a small fire going. Before long, the campfire was completely ablaze, showering the couple in a warm, orange light. Letting out a relieved sigh, he carefully rolled out his sleeping bag next to the fire, before gesturing for Dawn to do the same. When she didn´t respond, he took matters into his own hands, walking over to her backpack to do it for her.

"Wait…" Dawn murmured, raising her head and looking at him for the first time in forever. "I´ll… I´ll do it myself".

Ash stared at her for some time, before nodding his head and returning to his own sleeping bag. Moments later, he heard a scuffling sound, before feeling Dawn's body laying down right next to him. Normally, it would've perhaps been weird for the two of them to lay so close to each other, but now, Ash honestly couldn't have cared less. Both of them had been through hell, and however faint, there was comfort to be found in each other's presence. Pikachu also joined them, laying down next to Ash's head.

Despite everything that had happened, they were both exhausted, so sleep came easy.

* * *

Ash was pulled out of his slumber by the first glimmers of sunlight gently caressing his face. A soft breeze blew through the forest, causing the leaves to rustle and the birds to chirp. Letting out a tremendous yawn, he attempted to get up into a sitting position, only to find his body constrained underneath the weight of Dawn´s arm. Sometime during the night, she had locked her arm around him, clinging onto him like a sailor to a piece of driftwood after falling overboard.

Sighing, he gave in to his fate, relaxing with Dawn nuzzled comfortably into his side. Not a moment later, his head started processing everything that had happened the past couple of days.

 _Things will never be the same._ That much was certain. Up until this point, Ash had chosen to completely ignore the underlying problem: how he had seemingly travelled from Kanto to Sinnoh in a matter of hours, without any recollection of the journey. A thousand questions revolving around how face-planting into the pavement next to his house had transported him to Sinnoh irked his mind, but no matter how many times he racked his brain in search of an answer, the question remained.

And what had really happened that fateful night, when the very sky had opened up, the strange purple light pouring into the atmosphere like a venomous vapor? What had caused the gargantuan earthquake which had ultimately toppled his childhood home? What had happened to his mother? Was she okay? Was anyone in Pallet Town okay?

Shaking his head, he fiercely attempted to rid himself of these thoughts. But the more he tried, the more prominent they became. The more they bugged him, his mind craving answers above anything else. Oh God, what if… his mother had… oh no…

Just as Ash felt his heart sink deeper into his chest, Dawn moved her arm. Stirring in her slumber, she readjusted her position, before proceeding to let out a long sigh of satisfaction, squeezing him even tighter than before. Somehow, that insignificant little movement caused his brain to eject all negative thoughts from his mind, and Ash suddenly became very aware of his situation. An unusually attractive girl was currently cuddled up right next to him, using him as her private pillow.

When Dawn eventually woke up, it would most definitely evolve into an awkward encounter if she were to find Ash in a position like this. Carefully moving her arm away from him, Ash stood up, stretching his sore muscles as he did so. The rejuvenating sunlight caressed his skin, the light breeze tickling him ever so slightly. If it wasn't for what had happened the previous day, it would´ve been an amazing morning.

Looking back down at Dawn again, Ash couldn't help but notice how incredibly… at peace she looked. It was almost as if all her problems had gone away the second she had fallen asleep. For a moment, he was tempted to go back to sleep with her, to chase away all the horrible memories and be embraced by the sweet relief of darkness. But he knew that he couldn't, and for some reason, that made him incredibly sad.

 _Alright, I should probably start preparing some breakfast. How are we doing on food supplies?_ he thought to himself as he casually walked over to his backpack, opening the top and taking a good look inside. Nothing. It was completely void of anything edible.

 _Darn it. Gonna have to find something to eat then._

Just as he was about to go out searching for some berries, he noticed his magnetic belt on the ground next to his backpack. All his Pokèballs were still attached to it (something that he was eternally grateful for) and upon seeing them, his mind suddenly came up with an idea.

Gently nudging the Pokémon's sleeping form, Ash gingerly attempted to wake Pikachu up. He would need his assistance in order to catch their meal. The yellow rodent gradually woke to life, its brown eyes sending Ash a questioning look. Gesturing for him to follow, Ash made his way deeper into the woods.

As Pikachu caught up with him, Ash finished preparing what he would be using as bait. A handful of berries wrapped up in a big leaf was the best he could do with such limited supplies. Pikachu was quick to catch on, and Ash didn't even need to explain what they would be doing, the Pokémon was already getting ready behind a nearby tree.

The plan was relatively simple. They would wait for a Pokémon to come take the bait, at which point Pikachu would jump out from behind a tree, electrocuting it and knocking it out. Ash would then swoop in with the pocket knife he always kept on his person, and finish the job. Voila, you had breakfast.

After waiting for 20 minutes, Ash was feeling about ready to give up hope. Pikachu had long lost interest, and was currently busy chasing after butterflies somewhere nearby. Suddenly, just as he was about to start heading back to camp, a familiar scent hit his nostrils.

 _Meat cooked over an open fire._

The thought of it was so appealing that, for a second, he completely spaced out, simply standing there with his mouth open. Then he realized which direction the smell was coming from. It was coming from back where he and Dawn had spent the night. Instantly a feeling that something might've happened to her settled over him, and without as much as a second thought, he immediately set course straight there.

Pikachu had also caught up on Ash's uncertainty, as he was also running alongside him back to the campsite. Cutting through bushes and underbrush, the couple sprinted as fast as they could. By the time their camp finally came into view, Ash had received a bunch of fresh cuts from low-hanging branches and sharp thorns.

"Dawn?!" he shouted, his eyes quickly scanning his surroundings.

"Yeah, I'm right here!" a female voice answered, much to Ash's relief. "Is there a problem?" she continued as she came into view. Her dark blue hair was a mess, and there was a faint hint of bags hanging from underneath her eyes. She had never looked more beautiful.

"Uhm…" Ash answered, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "No, it´s nothing… I just thought that, since I smelled cooked meat coming from here, that someone had maybe infiltrated our campsite whilst you were sleeping and…"

He was cut off by the sound of Dawn chuckling.

"You're being paranoid," she laughed, shaking her head in pretend-disappointment. "You were taking your sweet time finding us breakfast, so I thought I'd just go catch something myself." Ash's eyebrows raised exponentially at this.

"How did you manage to… what… just… how?" was the only response he could come up with. Dawn chuckled again.

"Yeah wouldn't you like to know," she answered teasingly, before turning around to face the campfire again. "Instead of standing there looking like you're having the biggest brain-fart of your life, why not come taste the meat instead?"

Ash shook himself out of his trance at the sound of the word "meat". He hadn't had a satisfying meal in days, his stomach could testify to that. Sitting down next to the fire, he greedily eyed the meat that was currently being spit-roasted on a particularly large stick.

"What kind of Pokémon did you harvest the meat from?" he casually asked as his hunger rapidly grew in intensity.

"It's not from a Pokémon. It's boar meat," she answered matter-of-factly. Sending her a questioning look, Ash tried to figure out how she could've possibly had time to catch a boar, skin it, harvest its meat and throw away the cadaver before he even had a chance to SEE a Pokémon or animal, much less catch one. Dawn simply sat there, a small smile plastered onto her face.

After waiting in silence for a couple of minutes, Dawn finally took the meat off the flame, cutting it up into smaller pieces with her pocket knife (actually it wasn't much of a pocket knife, more like a top-grade survival knife), before handing Ash a portion of it.

Never in his life had he eaten anything quite as fast as he ate that meat. The succulent taste and rich flavor caused a low grunt to escape from his lips, something which earned him a confused look from Dawn.

"I'm sorry, it's just… too… good…" he said in-between bites, his focus solely on the meal in front of him. How had she managed to get it so perfectly tender with nothing but a rough campfire and a stick?

He was so obsessed with his meal, in fact, that he utterly failed to notice the slight movement that occurred in the corner of his vision. So obsessed, he completely ignored the sound of rustling bushes coming from behind him.

One second he was sitting by the fire, enjoying the tasty meat. The next he was on the ground, writhing and gasping in pain from where the force of the impact had hit him in the back. He heard Dawn scream, before an overwhelming roar coming from behind him swallowed the sound. Craning his neck around, he saw just what it was that had attacked him.

It was massive. Standing at least 4 feet tall, the colossal, blue bug Pokémon let out a screeching sound, two huge yellow eyes with coal-black pupils fixed on him. Its body was covered in what appeared to be an exoskeleton of some sorts, with one long, pronged horn sticking out of its forehead. Ash guessed that that was what had hit him in the back.

"Ash… stand… perfectly… still…" Dawn whispered, making sure to move as little as possible. "That's a Heracross, and before you ask, yes, they are extremely dangerous to humans. Any movement will be seen as an attempt to escape, and it will be on you before you even manage to blink".

"Trust me, I wasn't thinking about running," Ash answered, his eyes constantly scanning for any sort of opening. He noticed Pikachu hiding behind a nearby tree, his fur standing straight up in spikes due to the massive amounts of electricity going through his body. He was charging up one helluva Thunderbolt.

Making eye contact with him, Ash slowly nodded his head. And in that moment, the Heracross attacked.

The bug Pokémon was on him before he even managed to react, knocking him to the ground, using its claws to slash away at his exposed arms. Warm blood started seeping out from countless cuts, and he screamed as a jolt of intense pain flooded his senses. Somewhere in the distance, he heard Dawn let out a surprised gasp, but his brain refused to register it. It was too busy processing the huge amounts of pain currently being sent from his arms to his nerve system.

The Heracross was screeching even louder now, the sound deafening in Ash's ears. But just as he felt the strength in his arms disappearing, his body's natural survival instinct kicked in, and suddenly, he found himself holding his pocketknife. Letting out a scream of pure agony, he slammed the blade into the Pokémon's stomach, its sharp edge easily finding its way in-between the plates of exoskeleton covering its body. Hot, sticky blood flooded out, soaking Ash' s clothing and coloring it in a deep shade of crimson.

Suddenly, an incredibly loud bang echoed through the forest, and Heracross's body went completely stiff, before falling off to one side, leaving Ash panting for air and covered in blood. Pikachu had hit it with what was quite possibly his strongest Thunderbolt so far, instantly cooking the poor Heracross´s brain.

"Ash, oh my God, are you okay!?" he heard Dawn scream. He couldn't bring himself to care or even answer. A wave of tiredness unlike anything he had ever felt before had washed over his body, completely subduing him. He just wanted to sleep, to take a long, good nap. His eyelids refused to stay open. Sleep. Yes. Sleep now.

"Ash… you have to… are you… Ash please answer me… ASH!"

He closed his eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: I´ve spent so much time staring at this chapter that I honestly can´t even tell if it´s good anymore. That´s why I need you guys to leave a review with your opinion, so I can see what I did right and what I got wrong. The reason it took me so long to write this is that my life has been a complete rollercoaster of emotions recently. From meeting my ex-girlfriend again for the first time in two months, to realizing that things are now awkward between us and the amazing friendship that we had has seemingly vanished. Oh, and school started again. Hooray.**

 **But I digress. If you enjoyed the read, please do leave a review, as it always lightens up my mood (and I kinda need that right now, if you can´t tell). And I will see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **-Twisted**


	4. Update on the current state of my life

Oh boy it´s been a while. A lot of straight up shit has happened during these past couple of months, and I´ve been at the center of it all. Things are finally beginning to return to normal, and so, I felt obliged to update you guys on my situation.

So some of you may remember the little note I left at the end of the last chapter, talking about my ex and how weird it was to meet her again? Well, just a couple of days after I published that, she and my roommate started dating… So things got… heavy, for a while. Long story short, I got depressed as fuck.

On top of this, one of my best friends was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, and due to my ex most likely shit-talking me behind my back, I ended up basically friendless for a while.

Things haven´t exactly been easy lol.

However, my situation forced me to move out of my comfort zone and talk to new people, and I ended up getting quite a few new friends and people to talk to. So for the past couple of weeks, I have been focusing on maintaining myself (going to the gym 3 times a week) and hanging out with the people I care about.

Now, last week I started writing on Chapter 4 again (now chapter 5 lol) and got pretty far. If everything had gone according to plan, it should´ve been published a couple of days ago. Needless to say, it didn´t. My computer broke down. And I mean REALLY broke down. Everything from the motherboard to the graphics card mysteriously committed mass-suicide at the exact same time, and so I had to get it repaired.

Finally, I`m getting my computer back in a couple of days, so I´ll post chapter 5 as soon as possible. Right now I´m actually writing this little note to you from my friends´ laptop so yeah, good times.

Things are finally returning to somewhat normal for me, and I´m ready to start posting regularly again. These past couple of months has been like my own personal hell, and I´m so happy I get to leave it behind me and move on. Thank you guys for reading and reviewing my stories, it means a lot to me, and reading your comments actually helped me through some of the more rough patches these past months.

-Twisted


	5. The Stranger

**A/N: Hey guys, it's me again. So, you are probably wondering what happened after the last update chapter I posted, and I will definitely tell you that... at the end of the chapter :) I'm sorry, I just really want you guys to read this before I start bombarding you with all of my personal struggles.**

 **This chapter was actually relatively easy to write, once I got into the flow of things. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to portray right from the get-go, and I must say, I think the ending is probably one of my better ones to date. So please, if you enjoy the read, leave a review so I can hear your thoughts on it! And I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

«You know, I'm getting real tired of taking care of you like this».

The slightly frustrated female voice awoke him from his slumber, and he let out a raspy groan as his brain started booting up its rudimentary functions. Every muscle in his body ached from exhaustion, and it became painstakingly clear that standing up was not an option.

"Good morning to you too…" Ash gasped as he attempted to get into a more comfortable position on the ground. "I… passed out again, didn't I?"

"You got that one right," she answered nonchalantly whilst rummaging through her backpack in search of… something. "You do that a lot. Do you have naturally low blood sugar levels or something?"

Massaging his forehead, he racked his brain in search of an answer, or a witty response, but came up empty.

"I honestly don't know, but sometimes I wonder… Wait, are you cooking something?" An almost sickeningly sweet smell had just hit his nostrils, and Ash felt his stomach grumble in anticipation.

"Well, technically I'm not the one doing the cooking, so no". His eyebrows furrowed slightly at this.

"But… if you're not cooking anything… where is this sweet smell coming from?"

Dawn stopped scouring through her backpack, and gave him a funny look.

"You were just attacked by an incredibly dangerous Pokémon, got severely wounded and passed out, and yet the first thing you think about when you wake up is food… I guess you are a man through and through, after all," she sighed, shaking her head in something resembling disappointment.

"Hey, that's hardly fair… Wait, what do you mean by "a man after all?!"

Chuckling slightly, she closed her backpack before moving over and stretching out her hand for Ash to support himself on. Accepting her help, he grabbed her hand and painfully managed to push himself up off the ground, and into a standing position.

"Ahh man, that hurts…," he wheezed, clutching Dawn's hand tightly.

"I bandaged you up to the best of my ability, but that Heracross got you good," she replied, a faint grimace flashing over her face as Ash increased the pressure on her hand. "Try not to overexert yourself, okay? That might open up the wounds again, and trust me; I'm not spending another second patching up your sorry ass".

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Yeah, alright **Mom** , anything else you want me to do?" he answered jokingly.

"As a matter of fact, there is. Could you go find us some dry wood to fuel the fire?"

* * *

" _Try not to overexert yourself," she says, only to send me right out to find wood. Oh, the irony…_

Practically crawling through the underbrush, Ash strenuously searched for some dry sticks he could carry back to the campfire.

 _However… I am certain my nose didn't deceive me. Someone was cooking something, and for some reason, Dawn didn't tell me who… Oh well, guess I'll find out soon enough._

As he continued combing the leaf-covered ground, a strange noise made his ears twitch. At first, he simply brushed it off as natural sounds of the forest, but as his search continued, so did the ruckus. It was clearer now, more prominent.

" _Something is lurking about,"_ Ash thought to himself, dropping down low in an attempt to use the foliage to camouflage his presence. _"I am not going to get jumped again, that much is for sure. Besides, Dawn would kill me if I died now"_.

Suddenly, the noises stopped. A deafening silence filled Ash's ears as his eyes frantically searched for any signs of movement. And then, all of a sudden, he heard it. The sound of a branch breaking.

He jumped to the side just in time as a razor-sharp wine cut through the air right where he had been standing, missing him by inches. An agitated hiss gave away the Pokémon's frustration at missing its target, and Ash couldn't help but flash a smirk of satisfaction at his own speed.

" _Got you now, sucker!"_

Faster than he had ever done it before, he grabbed a Pokeball from his waist and flung it directly at his attacker. The round object caught the Pokémon by surprise, and with such little room to maneuver, there was no way it could possibly dodge it.

The metal ball let out a clanking sound as it hit its target, and the automatic mechanism designed to trap Pokémon caused it to flash open with surprising speed. The unsuspecting beast could do nothing but flail helplessly around as it was mercilessly sucked into the contraption, its body turning into a blinding white substance. The whole ordeal happened so fast that Ash barely had time to register it, as the now full Pokeball fell to the ground.

He stared at it in intense silence as he watched the dot blink red once.

Twice.

And finally thrice, informing him that the Pokémon had been successfully captured.

* * *

Dawn couldn't find her tampons. She had been looking for them all morning, searched through all of her bags, but they remained lost. Since this particular type of female hygiene was a somewhat awkward subject, she had chosen not to ask Ash to help her look for them. She reckoned he would be thankful for that if he knew.

Luckily enough, the newcomer had arrived just in time for breakfast, so she was free to search for her missing toiletries whilst he cooked.

Her meeting with the foreigner had been a rather strange one. She had been tending to Ash's wounds when he had announced his presence, coming into view from behind a tree. It had been obvious that he was attempting not to startle her, and that was probably why he had decided to approach her from a distance, so she could see him coming.

At first, Dawn had been struck with a familiar sense of suspiciousness, the natural response to encountering a stranger in the wild. This world was dangerous, and one could never be 100 percent sure that the other person didn't have ill-intent. But, seeing as this guy had decided to approach HER first, she surmised that he pretty much just wanted to talk.

After a quick explanation from the stranger, Dawn had learned that he was a traveler from Sandgem Town, and that he had heard Ash and Dawn talking to each other some way away and decided to come investigate.

Despite the rather menacing-looking assault rifle he had strapped on his back, Dawn didn't sense any ill-intent from him, so she invited him to stay for breakfast, but only if he made it, of course.

And that was pretty much how she ended up searching for her tampons whilst a complete stranger made her breakfast. A quite perplexing situation, but one she found herself enjoying nonetheless. A stranger from Sandgem Town… Perhaps he could tell her how things were over there…

* * *

Looking down at the small metal object, Ash couldn't help but feel his heart twinge with pride. He had just caught his very first Pokémon, and a rather fast one at that. Before Professor Westwood of Celadon University had invented the Pokèball, there had been no known way to tame one of the menacing beasts, but now, if you had the skill, you could pull it off.

However, successfully capturing a Pokémon and building a relationship with a Pokémon were two completely separate things, one clearly more arduous than the other. The whole process could be compared to that of gaining the trust of a wild animal. In order to build a strong relationship, you had to have trust, and trust was only gained after spending a significant amount of time and attention on the opposite party.

Despite knowing all of this, Ash still couldn't contain his excitement, and decided to call forth his newly captured companion. Throwing the metal ball with a firm grip, it opened up mid-air, and let out a wooshing sound as the Pokémon was summoned from within.

Once the bright light died down, Ash took a closer look at his new accomplice. The Pokémon was a stark green color with big, circular eyes. It almost had the appearance of that of some sort of plant. Its stem was yellow with green spots, and a plethora of red and green wines ran down and covered its waist like tentacles. It also had two arms resembling leaves with three "leafy" fingers on each arm. But the most terrifying thing about it was without a doubt its huge mouth. The mouth made up about 80 percent of its head, with razor-sharp teeth lining the edges, fully capable of tearing through skin and fabric like paper.

Ash vaguely remembered hearing the professor talk about a Pokémon they had discovered in the Sinnoh region that had the appearance of a carnivorous plant. He reckoned this would be that Pokémon.

"Hey there fella… How are you feeling?" he cooed, giving it his most innocent smile. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly…"

The Pokémon responded by squinting its eyes and hissing at him.

 _Oh well, you gotta start somewhere I suppose…_

"Look, I am not going to hurt you, I promise… Are you perhaps hungry?"

No response.

"Alright, not hungry then. Well, we gotta get going anyways, or else Dawn is going to be mad again".

Pointing the Pokeball at his new companion, it automatically shot out a red beam that sucked the Pokémon back into it again, removing any trace of its existence. Letting out a sigh of contentment, Ash turned around to head back to the camp again, excited to show Dawn his new "treasure".

* * *

He spotted the stranger before he noticed that Dawn was there as well. His unorthodox appearance might as well have been a spotlight, rendering you unable to look at anything but him. At first, Ash had thought him to be an intruder, but after it became apparent that Dawn was aware of and acknowledged his presence, he calmed down.

"Hey Dawn, I'm back… Who's this guy?" he asked, announcing his return.

"Oh, this is… well, as a matter of fact, I don't actually know his name… but he's a traveler from Sandgem Town. He approached me some time ago, and when I learned he had no ill-intent in mind, I invited him to eat breakfast with us," Dawn answered nonchalantly, brushing off the subject as some minor happening.

"O… okay… That's…" Ash didn't really know what to say next, so he decided to simply roll with it. It wasn't like there was much point in discussing it anyway, Ash had the impression that Dawn wasn't really a person you could win against in an argument.

Giving the stranger a quick nod, he instead approached Dawn with his Pokeball outstretched. "But more importantly, look what I did! I captured my very first Pokémon!"

Dawn immediately lit up upon hearing this, her eyes locking on to the metal ball in his hand.

"What?! Really? That's amazing!" she gasped, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yeah, isn't it? Here, I'll show it to you". Throwing the Pokeball a few feet away, he summoned forth his new companion. The plant-like Pokémon appeared, scanning its surroundings with a suspicious and slightly curious look.

"Oh my god, that's a Carnivine! I've only gotten a good look at one of them once in my entire life; they are so quick to escape…" Dawn rambled as she ran circles around the confused Pokémon, inspecting every inch of it. "How did you manage to capture it?"

Putting on a smug face, Ash crossed his arm and puffed his chest in pride. "Well, I was out looking for wood to fuel the fire when it attacked me. Luckily enough, I heard it coming and caught it by surprise. It didn't have enough time to dodge my Pokeball, so I managed to capture it".

Cocking her head slightly, Dawn sent him a quick look before returning her attention to the Carnivine. "Ohh, I get it… Well, the way I see it, you just got lucky".

"Hey, I reckon there was at least a little bit of skill involved!" Ash fired back, his pride disappearing like a popped balloon. He hated how Dawn always made him feel so incompetent…

"Whatever… It's a good catch nonetheless. Now, did you manage to find me that wood?" And just like that, she had switched topics.

"Uhm… No… I kinda forgot about it, I was so excited after I caught the… the…"

"Carnivine," Dawn offered, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Yeah, I knew that! After I caught the Carnivine".

"Okay… Well, to be honest, I was half expecting something to happen to you anyway, you seem to draw trouble like some sort of magnet," she sighed.

"It's not like I want it to happen!" Ash defended, gesturing to his wounds. "I'm the one who's constantly getting hurt!"

Chuckling slightly, she sent him a playful smile. "Yeah I know, I'm just messing with you".

"O… oh… I see… well in that case…" he muttered, taken aback by her sudden confession.

"So now that that's out of the way, let's eat! I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" And again, just like that, Dawn had successfully switched topics, avoiding yet another awkward situation.

* * *

Ash breathed a content sigh as he plopped down next to the campfire. The warmth radiating from it effectively nullified the sharp, cold edge of the chilly morning wind, and Ash could feel his body already beginning to heat up. The meal had been good, and for the first time in quite a while, Ash felt genuinely satisfied.

Stealing a quick glance at the unknown visitor, he was surprised to see what looked like an assault rifle strapped onto the mysterious strangers' back. In fact, the entirety of the newcomers' outfit could only be described in one word: strange.

He was wearing black sneakers and normal blue jeans, but that was about where the list of everything that could be called ordinary about him ended. The stranger donned a brown leather jacket with several rifts underneath what appeared to be an equally as brown cape. A huge cowboy hat placed on his head cast a long shadow over his face, hiding his eyes and really hammering home the image of an outlaw or cowboy from the Wild West.

"Any news from the settlements further into the region?" Dawn asked, seating herself next to Ash.

"Nope, anythin' north of Sandgem is pretty much a black hole of missin' information at this point. After The Obscurity, all technology mysteriously stopped workin', so the professor started sendin' people out to the other settlements to investigate, but nobody ever came back. He was about to head out 'imself, but then the bandits attacked and… well, you know the rest".

"The… Obscurity?" Ash asked, cocking his head slightly to the side.

"Yeah," the stranger said, turning his attention to Ash instead. "That's what we called it, the whole incident with the sky turnin' purple and everythin'. Can't keep calling it "strange phenomenon" forever ya know".

"Right… So you said that after this… Obscurity… all technology stopped working? Just like that?" Dawn inquired, staring into the fire with a puzzled look on her face.

"Pretty much. After the earthquakes had passed, the power in the lab suddenly cut, and we were left in complete darkness. When we tried to turn it back on again, it just didn't work. The professor was really mad and all, he lost a lot of important data because of that".

"I see…"

"So, where're you kids travellin' to, ehh?" the stranger asked nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on the fire as he spoke. It took Ash a second to realize that the man was actually talking to him this time, and another second to come up with a suitable response.

"Oh, ehrm… We were actually planning on heading towards Sandgem Town. We have business with the professor there…" The stranger looked at him for a moment before responding.

"Sandgem Town, ehh… Hmm, I don't think goin' there is a very good idea, son".

Ash furrowed his brows at this.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, as I told you, I just came from Sandgem. The whole place has been overrun by bandits, and…"

"What?!" Dawn's high-pitched yell cut him off before he managed to finish his sentence.

"Yeah… I´m tellin' ya, it ain't a pretty sight. They've even strung up some corpses in front of the city gate to scare off visitors".

"Is the professor okay?" she asked, the apprehension in her eyes burning into him like fire into dry wood.

"I dunno. Me and the professor ain't exactly on… speakin' terms at the moment," the stranger answered, his eyes staring back at the fire again.

"Wha… why? Did something happen between the two of you?"

The stranger seemed peculiarly fazed by this, and awkwardly readjusted his sitting position. "Oh, it's nothin' important…"

 _Is he hiding something from us?_

"Well, if it's "nothing important", you wouldn't mind telling us about it... would you?" Ash inquired, his eyes focusing on the strangers´ gun. The mysterious "cowboy" shook his head as a huge number of sparks belched out from the fire.

"I told you, it ain't important. Look, I don't want no trouble, okay? I just wanna get as far away from Sandgem as possible, and I recommend you do the same. That place ain't safe no more".

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't do that. I've known Professor Rowan my entire life, and if he's in trouble, I want to do everything in my power to help," Dawn answered, sheer determination radiating from her eyes.

The stranger fixed her with a calculating stare, before sighing and shaking his head.

"It seems you've already made up your mind. Nothin' I say or do will make you think twice about this now, so I might as well give y'all a little help on the way. Here, take this. It… might come in handy". Producing a metal key from one of the pockets on his leather jacket, the stranger held it out so Dawn could grab it.

"That key right there opens up the backdoor leading in to the Professors lab. Takin' the front entrance pro'lly isn't such a good idea, seeing how the town is now run by bandits and all". Dawn stared at the cold metal key in her hand; as if she could somehow teleport to the door it belonged to if she eyed it hard enough.

"Wow, thanks a lot. I'm sure that's going to be very useful," Ash answered, bowing his head in respect.

"Don't think too much of it kid, I just don't wanna send two children off to their death without some help. Isn't good for the consciousness, that," he replied, sending Ash a weak smile. "Well, I should pro'lly get going now. Got a long road ahead of me if I wanna catch the boat to Kanto."

 _Well there is my confirmation… I guess we are in Sinnoh after all…_ **Ash thought to himself as he watched the stranger get up and straighten his clothes.**

"You kids take care, a'ight? I don't want you dyin' on me now, not after I gave you that key".

"Don't worry sir, we don't plan on it. Have a safe trip," Dawn answered, smiling innocently. She could be really hospitable when she wanted to, apparently.

* * *

They sat in silence as they watched the stranger drift further and further away into the woods. Despite just having talked for a long time, there was an uneasy feeling hanging in the air. Like that of a calm before the storm.

"Hey Ash…" Dawn started, her eyes fixed on the fire yet again.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… do you think we should've let that guy go without even learning his name? I mean… I just feel like there was something a little off with him, you know?"

Ash couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"I agree. He was definitely hiding something… I have no clue as to what, though…"

The silence returned, more deafening in its strength this time. After hearing about Sandgem, Ash was unsure if it was a wise choice to continue with the plan. Bandits were no joke, and he shuddered when he thought about what would happen to the two of them if they were to get caught. He would probably be killed, and Dawn… well, they could do worse things to her than kill her. He didn't want that to happen.

"Ash…?" Dawn asked, her voice nothing but a whisper now.

"Y… yes?"

"I'm afraid…"

The confession should've shocked him, coming from Dawn. It didn't.

"Yeah, so am I…"

* * *

 **A/N: And there you have it! Chapter 5, in all of its glory! I hope you enjoyed it, and if not, I'm sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations. Now, at the start of the chapter, I said that I would tell you about what happened after the last update, but honestly, nothing really exciting or new happened. I've mostly been focusing on getting my life back on track, which I have been very successful in, with my grades going back up and my social life booming. I'm honestly just very happy right now, and I'm glad you guys understand that I had to take my time in order to fully heal.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, I again hope you enjoyed chapter 5, as it took me a long time to write (lol). And I would really appreciate it if you left a review telling me what I can do better the next time around. I've already started on chapter 6, so the wait shouldn't be too long.**

 **And as always, I will see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **-Twisted**


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